Breathing Room
by lavalane
Summary: When neither can fall sleep, Marie and Logan spend some time together...


X-MEN FIC: Breathing Room  
  
Rogue (Marie)/Wolverine (Logan)  
  
Okay, I'm saying this first... I know *nothing* about x-men, except what I've seen in the movies. But something about Marie/Logan just struck a chord in me. So, if you still want to read this story after knowing that I know nothing about these characters, then thanks. Psst, I don't own anything.  
  
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Marie couldn't sleep. She wasn't even going to bother to try. She knew it would be pointless. Her mind was too active to just shut off for the night. It was all because of Bobby...  
  
Marie sighed and quietly made her way through the empty hallways. Ice cream... ice cream was what she wanted right now. Marie was about to turn into the kitchen area, but notice a figure turning the corner up ahead. It looked like Logan. She couldn't resist going after him.  
  
"Logan!" Marie whispered when she came up behind him.  
  
Logan turned, looking at her curiously, "What are you doing up?"  
  
"What are you doing up?" Marie echoed. He was dressed in his normal attire of jeans and a shirt, even though it was after midnight. She noticed a yellow piece of paper in his hand, "What's that?"  
  
"Nothing," Logan said, folding up the paper before Marie could look closer at it. He looked down at her, "You didn't answer my question... why are you still up?"  
  
Marie frowned, crossing her gloved arms over her chest, "Well, you didn't answer any of my questions, either."  
  
Logan gave a little sigh, knowing it could just keep going back and forth like this. Someone had to give in. "I couldn't sleep," He said.  
  
Marie smiled, "I couldn't sleep either."  
  
"Why not?" Logan asked curiously.  
  
Marie just shrugged. She looked down at his hand, seeing the edge of the paper, "So, are you going to tell me what that is?"  
  
Logan smiled a bit, looking at the paper himself, "It's nothing... just foolishness."  
  
Now Marie was definitely intrigued. "What kind of foolishness?"  
  
Logan hesitated, and then shrugged, "It's some kind of code."  
  
"Code?" Marie asked, her eyebrows rising.  
  
"Yeah," Logan said and then looked up and down the empty hallway and then back down at Marie in her matching dark blue pajama top and bottom. A silver necklace dangled around her throat, and her ever present white gloves were on her hands. "You should be in bed."  
  
Marie frowned and reminded him through clenched teeth, "I can't sleep." Then her expression softened as she looked again at the yellow paper, "Maybe I can help? I'm good at riddles."  
  
Logan couldn't help but smile at her, "Yeah?"  
  
Marie nodded.  
  
"Well..." Logan felt himself giving in. Marie reached for the paper and Logan allowed her to take it from him.  
  
"Wis 263 HoMS" Marie read aloud. Her face scrunched up and she looked back up at Logan, "What does that mean?"  
  
"You're supposed to be the one good at riddles," Logan said with a smile, "But, it's supposed to lead to a secret passageway."  
  
"In the school?" Marie asked. "Well, there's the one on the third floor by the bathrooms, and the one on the first floor by that ugly plant, and--"  
  
Logan cut her off, "A secret passageway isn't a secret if everyone knows about it."  
  
Marie protested, "Not everyone knows about them... just all the students, and the teachers..."  
  
Logan nodded, "Well, this one is supposed to really be a secret. Not even Jean or the Professor knows about it."  
  
Marie looked at him intently, "And how did you find out about it?"  
  
"That's a secret," Logan said quickly. "And I haven't found it yet... I have this," He held up the paper, "But I have no idea of what it means."  
  
Marie smiled, "So, you were just going to walk around the building all night until you figured it out?"  
  
Logan shrugged, saying defensively, "I couldn't sleep."  
  
Marie read over the secret code again. Nothing was triggering in her brain. She looked back up at Logan with a teasing smile, "So, once you find this 'secret passageway'... what, you're going to use it instead of taking the elevator like the rest of us? Or you're going to use it to sneak up on people and scare them?"  
  
Logan smiled, "I haven't decided yet... so you think you can help?"  
  
Marie nodded, although she didn't have a clue what the clue meant. The two started walking down the hallway, side by side. Wolverine and Rogue. As they reached the library corridor of the school, Marie stopped. She looked up at Logan, "You think?"  
  
Logan shook his head, looking into the massive library, "...The secret passageway being behind a bookshelf?" He asked, saying the words Marie had been thinking. Logan shook his head again, "That's the way it always is in movies... why would someone make it so obvious?"  
  
But Marie was already pulling him inside. She studied the code again, "Maybe this means a book... and if we find the book and pull it, presto!"  
  
Logan shrugged, it was possible, he guessed.  
  
"Wis..." Marie said aloud. She was liking this... spending time with Logan, searching for a secret passage. Even if they didn't find it, it was still fun. And it beat eating ice cream and feeling sorry for herself. "That could be part of the author's name," Marie suggested. She headed over to the library computers.  
  
Logan followed her. "It couldn't be this easy," He protested.  
  
But Marie was already printing out a list of all the books by authors whose last names started out 'Wis'. Marie looked at the location of the books, "Most of these are on the second level."  
  
Logan reluctantly followed her.  
  
"I wonder what the rest of this means," Marie said aloud, studying the clue and the list of books. "Wait!" She said excitedly.  
  
"What?" Logan asked.  
  
"History of Mutant Skills, by Dr. Larry Wiseman," Marie said, pointing at a book on the list, "...HoMS."  
  
"It can't be this easy," Logan said again as he watched Marie locating the book on the bookshelf in front of them.  
  
"Found it!" Marie said excitedly as she pointed at a dusty book off the bottom shelf. She looked back at Logan with a smile, and then pulled the book out of the bookcase expectantly. Nothing happened.  
  
"I knew it couldn't be that easy," Logan said gruffly.  
  
Marie ignored him, slipping her hand in the empty space the book had been, feeling for some sort of latch or button. Nothing. She stood up, looking disappointed. She studied the book in her hands, "I was sure..." Suddenly she remembered the last part to the code.  
  
"We should just go to bed," Logan said.  
  
Marie ignored him, turning to page 263 in the book. The code had said: Wis 263 HoMS. The page was blank, except for two lines of type. Marie frowned, the words didn't make sense as sentences. Puzzled, she read them aloud for Logan, "Daylight moonbeam, forest running free. Everyone blue tapestry choosing me."  
  
"What the hell--?" Logan asked, but a rumbling sound stopped his words. He and Marie backed up as a section of the bookshelf began to slide outwards.  
  
"We did it!" Marie squealed.  
  
Soon the section of the bookshelf had moved out far enough from the rest that there was a gap... enough room for a person to slip through. Marie went to go look, but Logan held her back, "We don't know if it's safe."  
  
Marie pushed away, "I just want to look." But as she reached the gap, she couldn't resist entering it.  
  
"Marie!" Logan said with annoyance, and reluctantly followed her. Behind the gap all was darkness, he couldn't see anything... more importantly he couldn't see Marie. "Marie?" He asked.  
  
"Boo!" She cried in the dark, and Logan could tell by the closeness of her voice that she was only a foot or so away from him. "This secret passageway sucks," She said, "It doesn't lead anywhere! It's only a few feet big."  
  
Logan tested it out, and sure enough he was surrounded by three walls. There was no where to go. "There must be a latch or something," Logan said, but he was disappointed. This wasn't what he had been hoping to find.  
  
"Yeah," Marie said, her own voice dismal.  
  
"We'll just have to come back another time with a flashlight," Logan said, and began to turn back to the gap he had entered through...  
  
"Logan!" Marie cried out, worried. The gap was quickly closing.  
  
Logan rushed forward, pushing against the bookcase, but it was no use. It had closed. He and Marie were stuck in the darkness. Logan began to run his hands over the walls, "There must be a secret button or something!" He felt all four walls, but didn't find anything.  
  
"Logan," Marie said, her voice full of worry.  
  
Logan reached out in the darkness, and found her gloved hand. "It's okay."  
  
Marie squeezed tightly onto his hand, "But, we're trapped, aren't we?"  
  
Logan sighed, and nodded. Then he realized a nod was useless in the dark. "Yes, I think we are," He said aloud.  
  
"Oh God," Marie muttered. "What if no one finds us?"  
  
"They will," Logan tried to assure her.  
  
"What if..." Marie's voice trembled as she spoke her worst fear, "What if we don't have any air in here? What if we suffocate?"  
  
"Marie," Logan said, finding her other hand with his. He held onto both of her hands and spoke in the direction of her face, "Stop... just don't think."  
  
Marie tried.  
  
"Know, do you feel that?" Logan asked.  
  
"What?" Marie asked meekly.  
  
"That breeze."  
  
Marie paused, relaxing as she indeed felt the light gust of air coming from above them. "Where's it coming from?" She asked.  
  
Logan reached above him, but couldn't feel a ceiling to their enclosure. "Let me lift you up," He said.  
  
Marie moved closer, "Alright."  
  
Logan hands reached out, brushing against her arms. He moved his hands down lower, lifting Marie upwards, his hands locking around her upper thighs. "Do you feel anything?" He asked.  
  
"No!" Marie said with annoyance. "It just seems to keep going up and up."  
  
Logan gently put her back down.  
  
"How are we going to get out?" Marie asked nervously. "The walls are hard... metallic. Even you can't get through that."  
  
Logan reached out, his hand finding her shoulder, "We're just going to have to wait. Someone will notice we're gone in the morning, and the Professor or Jean should be able to find us quickly enough."  
  
"Yeah.." Marie said, her voice lackluster. "Until then, I guess we're stuck in here."  
  
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"So, why couldn't you sleep?" Marie asked a little while later. They both were sitting on the floor of the enclosure, the room being so small, that their backs were against opposite walls, and their folded legs were only a few inches apart.  
  
Logan didn't answer her, only grunted.  
  
"Don't tell me you're trying to sleep in this tiny room," Marie said, rolling her eyes in the dark.  
  
"No."  
  
"Then, we might as well talk... to pass the time," Marie suggested. "So...?"  
  
Logan was silent, and Marie thought he wasn't going to answer her. She had almost given up on him when he spoke up, "You tell me first."  
  
Marie smiled, "That's not the way it's supposed to work. I asked first." Logan was silent, and finally Marie began to speak her story... it was better than staying silent in the dark, and letting her worries take her over. "Bobby and I broke up," Marie said. Logan grumbled something unintelligible. Marie sighed, "I thought we could really make it... as a couple, but it just wasn't working."  
  
"Why not?" Logan said, surprising her.  
  
Marie shook her head, "I don't know... we just didn't have the right formula, I guess. Something just wasn't clicking right."  
  
Marie dropped her head a bit, thinking of Bobby. Logan drew her out of her thoughts by telling his story, "I couldn't sleep because of Jean..."  
  
Marie stared at where his head would be. It was too dark to even see him even four feet away. Marie didn't want to be hearing this... she didn't want to hear about Dr. Jean Gray. She didn't want to hear about the woman Logan loved.  
  
Logan sighed, "Jean and I kissed."  
  
Marie held back a gasp.  
  
"And it wasn't what I expected."  
  
Marie frowned. "What did you expect?" She asked, a bit of a snarl to her voice.  
  
"I thought I loved her."  
  
Marie's face tightened up. She wasn't hearing this.  
  
"But, I think maybe I just liked the chase better," Logan said sadly. "When I kissed her... I guess 'we just didn't have the right formula'," He said, stealing a phrase from Marie.  
  
Marie slowly relaxed. So, Jean wasn't right for Logan. He had finally figured that out. Marie had seen it long before. But it took men longer to understand some things.  
  
"I think I also liked pissing off Scott," Logan said with a light laugh.  
  
Marie smiled, "I think you just like what you can't have."  
  
"Yeah, I guess so," Logan agreed.  
  
They lapsed into silence for a half hour or so, and then Logan said, "That necklace around your neck..."  
  
Marie reached up, grasping the charm around her neck.  
  
"Is it what I think it is?" Logan asked.  
  
"Yeah," Marie said quietly. Dr. Grey had given it to her a few weeks ago.  
  
"So, why are you still wearing the gloves?" Logan asked.  
  
The necklace had a special combination of ingredients in the charm pendant that counteracted Marie's mutant power... the power to steal other mutant's powers by touch. Of course, that caused a great deal of hurt, so Marie always wore her gloves, to protect herself and others. But, now...  
  
"It works, doesn't it?" Logan asked quietly.  
  
"Yes," Marie said with a nod. "I guess I'm afraid..."  
  
"Afraid of what?"  
  
"Afraid that it will stop working, and I'll hurt someone," Marie answered sadly.  
  
There was a rustling noise and suddenly Logan was just near enough for her to see his outline in the dark. He reached for her hands.  
  
"Logan," Marie said, her voice heavy with fear, but Logan didn't stop and soon he had her gloves off. And his hands were holding her bare hands. Skin on skin.  
  
"It works," Logan said appreciatively.  
  
Marie began to pull her hands back, but Logan held on. "Is it weird?" He asked. "To be able to touch freely after all this time."  
  
"Yeah," Marie said honestly. Logan's hands were warm around her own. Suddenly she blurted out, "Logan, do you like me?"  
  
"Of course," Logan said, confused. "You're a good kid."  
  
Marie sighed, she drew her hands back from his. "But, that's just it... I'm not a kid."  
  
Logan remembered how he met her. Her tough exterior. Her braveness. Her strength. She had to have grown up faster than most people her age because of her mutant genes. She was older in the inside than most non- mutant adults. "No, I guess you're not," Logan agreed.  
  
"Logan, do you think you could ever like me?" Marie asked, her voice slightly shaky. "You know, like you liked Jean?"  
  
Logan was silent. Marie wished she could see enough of his face to see how he was reacting to her question. She wished she hadn't asked it... what had she been thinking?  
  
"You're too young," Logan said, his voice unreadable.  
  
"So, you can't be with me?" Marie asked.  
  
"No, I can't," Logan said.  
  
"You want what you can't have," Marie reminded him, "So... does that make you want me?" The darkness was encouraging her. She would have never said this to him if the situation had been different.  
  
"Marie..."  
  
"It's just a question," Marie said, enjoying the nervousness in Logan's voice.  
  
"Well, it's a question I don't think I should answer," Logan said simply.  
  
Marie smiled. "I think you're the one who's scared now."  
  
"I'm not scared!" Logan said gruffly.  
  
"I think you are," Marie said teasingly.  
  
"What am I scared of?" Logan asked.  
  
"Of me," Marie answered.  
  
There was silence, and Marie watched Logan's outline, wondering what he was thinking. "Logan?" She asked, unsurely. Had she just screwed up everything between them?  
  
Logan's hand suddenly brushed her cheek. "Marie..." He said softly.  
  
Marie smiled, turning her cheek into his palm, kissing it.  
  
"This is..." Logan said, trailing off.  
  
"This is right," Marie finished. She moved closer to him, and her bare hands took delight in running through his hair.  
  
"Marie, are... are you sure?" Logan asked cautiously.  
  
Marie nodded, but realized he couldn't see it, and answered him in a different way. She moved her face forward, finding his lips with her own. She was sure.  
  
Logan kissed her back, happy to note this kiss was nothing like the kiss he had shared with Jean. This one had feelings and passion and... it was more than he had ever hoped for. It was perfect.  
  
They found plenty of ways to pass the time till Professor Xavier found them in the morning and let them out. Maybe being trapped wasn't such a bad thing after all.  
  
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